Phoenix Rises Again... Phoenix Rises Again...
The Northern Paladin
Conference Room: U.S.S. Phoenix...
NP: "OK, while we're waiting for the damage control teams to finish fixing those hull breaches, let's listen to Mr. Munro's analysis of the craft that hit us..."
Munro: "Thanks, sir. Near as we can figure, this craft is the largest we've ever seen...almost as large as a small planet.....it's designed around these 4 powerful warp engines...and whatever's catalyzing the warp reaction, it's NOT dilithium...it's impulse engines, however, seem to be very weak for it's size...it's designed to do it's main maneuvering at warp....it's weapons are located here, here, here, and here....heavy outputweapons, they're designed to deliver a lot of force in one spot. They're most effective against slow-moving larger craft....thanks to the high-powered impulse engines on this ship, we shouldn't have much trouble getting out of the way when those ports power up."
Officer: "So, no sweat, right?"
Munro: "Wrong...the main problem is here.....this bay houses fighter craft. If they launch, they can swarm our defenses. We have to disable or destroy that bay BEFORE we engage the larger ship. Also, if they manage to power up warp engines, they may be able to outrun us...with that weird power system, who knows..."
NP: "So we have to take out the bay AND the engines?"
Munro: "No, not quite. This engine configuration is very stable as is...but knock even one out of the four engines out, and the rest won't be able to balance the load...."
Officer: "SO we take one warp driver and the bay out....that's still gonna be some fancy shooting...they're nowhere NEAR each other!"
NP: "I have an idea...I'll talk to Engineering about it....but it may be feasible...What's the armor assessment? How much will it take to break through it?"
Munro: "This craft HAS to be heavily dependent on it's shielding...if it's carrying heavy armor, then it's not going fast in warp, and it isn't moving ANYWHERE at sublight...my guess is they have a secondary skinfield under the outer hull for added strength...I'm working on a way to disrupt that now..."
Officer: "What about that thing they hit us with?"
Munro: "Analysis indicated a contained ion blast...pretty heavy duty though. We could adjust the shields to disperse it....but there's one problem. They'd have to hit us with it first."
NP: "You expect me to let them hit MY ship?"
Munro: "We need to know the polarization of the ions to properly disperse the beam...they could change it between here and Earth, but they wouldn't be able to change it during a battle. By their nature, ion projectors require a 2 hour period to allow all the excess ions in the device to revert to neutrality before adjusting the polarity."
NP: "I'll think about it......right now, I just wanna deal some damage to these moogles....."
Intercom: "Engineering to the captain...hull breaches have been repaired. We're secure for warp drive."
NP: "Thank you... Bridge. Engage course for Earth...maximum warp."
Helm: "Aye, sir!"
NP: "Thank you gentlemen...please submit your recommendations to me in one hour...I want a coherent battle plan by the time we reach Earth....that ship is probably there by now...."
Chaos28
Meanwhile, Jerad was listening in...
Jerad : "This can't be what I think it is... oh god... I have to warn Ku-Sam!"